Patchworx Berlin Techno is a 64-preset Serum bank for producers who want that dungeon-dark Berlin sound without building it from scratch, and at $21 it’s a fair buy if you already own Serum.
Picture it. You’ve got a 130 BPM loop running, the kick is landing, and the groove feels right. But the top half of the track is empty. You need a stab that bites, an arp that hypnotises, and a pad that fills the cracks. You open Serum’s init patch, stare at the oscillators, and twenty minutes vanish. The track hasn’t moved.
That’s the gap this pack fills. It hands you finished Berlin techno sounds, organised by role, with macro controls so you can bend each one to your arrangement.
It isn’t for everyone. If you don’t already own Serum, the real cost is higher than the sticker. If you don’t make techno, keep reading, but expect to be picky. We’ll cover what’s in the pack, where it slots into a session, where it earns its money, and where it falls short.
What's In The Box
You get 64 custom presets for Xfer Records Serum, and the whole download is 222 MB.
Alongside the presets come 64 MIDI files and 64 WAV rendered versions paired with them. All audio is 24-bit, 44.1 kHz.
The preset count breaks down like this: 10 stabs, 9 basses, 8 arps, 8 leads, 8 pads, 6 textures, 5 kicks, 3 bass arps, 2 tonal hats, plus one each of chord, snare, clap, hat and poly.
Every preset carries macro controls. That’s the headline feature, and we’ll dig into it below.
One hard requirement: you need a full and up-to-date version of Serum. No Serum, no pack.
The developer pitches it as a bank of expertly crafted Berlin techno sounds that brings atmosphere, energy and depth to any dancefloor. It also says the collection is 100% royalty free for use in your tracks. That last point matters if you plan to release.
Is It Worth $21 When You Already Own Serum?
Let’s talk value, because that’s the real question here.
Sixty-four presets for $21 works out to well under a dollar per sound. That’s the cheap way to look at it. The honest way: you’re paying for the hours you’d otherwise spend designing those sounds yourself.
If sound design is the part of production you enjoy, you may not need this. Serum ships with plenty of material, and free preset banks are everywhere. A free bank is enough if you only want a few generic basses to tweak.
But free banks are scattershot. They cover every genre badly. This pack covers one genre on purpose. That focus is what you’re buying.
Where paying more makes sense: if you want hundreds of sounds across multiple styles, a bigger, broader library will stretch further. This pack doesn’t try to be that.
Here’s our take. For a techno producer already in Serum, $21 is easy to justify. For anyone else, it’s a gamble on a genre you may not make.
Where It Fits In Your Workflow
This is a sketching and finishing tool, not a learning tool.
Say you’re starting a track from nothing. Drop in one of the five kick presets, lock the groove, then audition basses against it. The MIDI files let you hear a preset playing a pattern before you commit to it.
The paired WAV renders are handy too. Drag one into your DAW to test a sound in context without loading Serum at all. That saves CPU while you’re still deciding what belongs in the arrangement.
Once you’ve chosen, load the preset in Serum and reach for the macros. They’re the point of the exercise.
Later, when the arrangement needs movement, automate a macro across eight bars. A stab that sits still in bar one can open up by bar sixteen.
Remember the requirement. Serum needs to be installed, current and fully licensed. Budget for that if you haven’t already.
How Do The Macro Controls Actually Work?
Each preset has macro controls, and owners report that they provide meaningful change to each preset rather than cosmetic wiggle.
That matters more than it sounds. Plenty of preset packs ship macros that barely do anything. You turn the knob, the sound shifts by a hair, and you end up diving into Serum’s matrix anyway.
Here the macros are meant to be the performance surface. Reviewers describe the presets as easy to use and tweak, which fits that design.
Try this. Load an arp, play a held chord, and sweep the first macro slowly while the pattern runs. You’re listening for the sound to change character, not just brightness. If it only gets louder or duller, the macro isn’t earning its slot.
We love this approach for one reason: it keeps you in the track. You tweak by ear, mid-loop, without opening the oscillator page.
The catch is that macros are only as good as the sound designer’s choices. We can’t tell you what each knob is mapped to across all 64 presets. Check a handful yourself before you commit.
The Bass, Stab And Arp Presets
These three categories make up the bulk of the pack, and they’re the backbone of a Berlin techno track.
Basses And Bass Arps
There are 9 basses and 3 bass arps. The developer calls the basses warm.
In measurable terms, expect low-end weight that fills the sub region while leaving the mids open for the kick. Test that yourself: solo the bass against your kick and watch the low end for buildup near the kick’s fundamental. Cut a couple of dB there with a narrow EQ if it clouds.
Stabs
Ten stabs is the biggest single category. That tells you where the pack’s priorities lie.
Stabs are the chord hits that carry techno’s tension. Try one on an offbeat, add a short delay, and push the macro up during a breakdown. A good stab sounds like it’s pushing the groove forward.
Arps
Eight arps, described as hypnotic. Hypnotic in techno means repetition with slow change. That’s exactly what a macro sweep gives you.
Run an arp for sixteen bars and automate one macro slowly. If you’re still interested by bar fourteen, the patch is doing its job.
What About The Kicks, Pads And Textures?
Five kick presets sit in the pack. The developer calls them huge, and reviewers highlight the drums as expertly crafted and suitable across multiple genres.
That versatility claim is worth taking seriously, because it’s the one place the pack reaches beyond Berlin. A well-built kick preset doesn’t care what genre you’re in.
There’s exactly one each of snare, clap and hat, plus two tonal hats. Honestly, that’s thin. If you want a full drum rack, you’ll still need samples. These are accents, not a kit.
The eight pads are described as thick. Layer one under a stab and low-pass it until it stops fighting the lead. Pads in dark techno should fill space, not announce themselves.
Six textures round things out. Textures are the grit between the notes: noise beds, atmospheres, background movement. Drop one under a breakdown and you’ll hear the track get bigger without getting louder.
One poly preset and one chord preset cover the leftovers. Small categories, but they cost nothing.
What Do Owners And Reviewers Say?
The reception reads positive, with reviewers praising the sound design as stunning and amazing.
Owners say the pack has taken their techno tracks to the next level. That’s enthusiastic, though it’s the kind of line you should discount a little. Preset packs rarely transform a track on their own.
More useful is the practical feedback. Reviewers note the presets are easy to use and tweak. Owners report the macros do real work.
What we can’t tell you is how every preset behaves under heavy automation, or how it stacks up under a dense mix. Those are the things to check in your own session. Load three or four presets you’d actually use, drop them into a real project, and judge them there, not in solo.
The Rough Edges
Start with the obvious one. The pack needs Xfer Records Serum, a paid synthesizer. If you don’t own it, the true cost is much higher than $21.
Second, the focus. This is a Berlin techno pack, and it says so. Some reviewers note versatility, but a preset bank built around one aesthetic will always limit producers working in other genres. House, trance, pop? Hard pass, mostly.
Third, the single-preset categories. One snare, one clap, one hat. If you want to build a drum kit from this pack, you can’t.
Fourth, 64 is a modest number. It’s enough to start a track and not enough to cover a whole album without repetition. After a few releases, your sounds may start to feel familiar.
That’s annoying, but it’s the trade-off for a tight, focused bank. A narrower pack beats a bloated one.
Who This Is Really For
✅ Buy if you already own Serum and make techno, especially dark, driving Berlin-style techno.
✅ Buy if you want finished sounds you can tweak with macros instead of building patches from scratch.
✅ Buy if you need royalty-free sounds you can release without worrying about clearance.
❌ Skip if you don’t own Serum and aren’t ready to buy it.
❌ Skip if you produce outside techno and want a general-purpose bank.
❌ Skip if you enjoy designing your own patches and see presets as a shortcut you don’t want.
Specs & Technical Details
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Loopmasters |
| Price | $21 |
| Plugin Format | N/A |
| OS Support | N/A |
| Activation | N/A |
| CPU Usage | N/A |
| Trial Available | N/A |
| Version Reviewed | N/A |
Score Breakdown
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 4.3/5 | Reviewers praise the sound design as stunning and amazing, with drums that are expertly crafted and suitable across multiple genres |
| Value for Money | 4.2/5 | 64 presets, 64 MIDI files and 64 WAVs for $21, if you already own Serum |
| Ease of Use | 4.3/5 | Reviewers find the presets easy to use and tweak |
| Features | 3.8/5 | Macros on every preset plus MIDI and WAV extras, but thin drum categories |
| CPU Efficiency | N/A | No CPU data available, so we don't score it |
| Overall | 4.1/5 | A focused, fairly priced Berlin techno bank that needs Serum and suits one genre |
Should You Buy It?
If you own Serum and make techno, buy it. At $21, 64 genre-focused presets with working macros save you real hours, and the MIDI and WAV files make auditioning painless.
If you don’t own Serum, the maths changes. You’d be buying a synth to use a preset pack, and that’s the wrong way round.
If you work outside techno, skip it. Even with the versatile drums, you’re paying for a style you won’t use.
Our verdict: a sharp, narrow tool that does one job well. Treat it as a head start on a Berlin-style track, not a finished sound, and you won’t be disappointed.
The best test is the simplest. Load a kick, a bass and a stab, hit play at 130 BPM, and see if the groove makes you nod. If it does, you’ve got your answer.
For more on getting the most from Serum, see best Serum preset packs for techno. If you’re building a dark low end, our guide to how to mix a techno kick and bass will help. Looking to widen your sound? Try sound design tips for dark pads. And if you’re still deciding on the synth itself, read Serum review and alternatives.
Related reviews: AZS Spice Vol.2 for DUNE 2
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need Serum to use Patchworx Berlin Techno?
Yes. The pack contains Serum presets, so you need a full and up-to-date version of Xfer Records Serum. Without it, the presets won't load. The 64 WAV renders will still play in your DAW, but you'd miss the point of the pack.
How many presets are included?
There are 64 custom presets. They're split into stabs, basses, arps, leads, pads, textures, kicks, bass arps, tonal hats, and single presets for chord, snare, clap, hat and poly. Stabs are the largest group at 10.
Are the sounds royalty free?
The developer says the collection is 100% royalty free for use in your tracks. That means you can use the sounds in your own music. Check the licence that comes with your download for the exact terms before you release anything commercially.
Does it include MIDI files?
Yes. You get 64 MIDI files, paired with 64 WAV rendered versions. The MIDI files let you hear each preset playing a pattern. The WAVs let you audition sounds in your DAW without opening Serum.
Can I use it for genres other than techno?
You can, but it's built for Berlin techno. Reviewers say the drums work across multiple genres. The rest of the pack leans dark and hypnotic, so expect to tweak heavily if you're working outside techno.
